Why Maine didn’t come close to meeting a 2026 deadline to divest from fossil fuels by Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News

“Nearly five years ago, Maine passed a first-in-the-nation law requiring the state pension system to divest from fossil fuels. Thursday was the deadline to do it. Yet roughly $1.15 billion was still invested in the sector as of December. It has long been clear that the Maine Public Employees Retirement System wasn’t going to meet the deadline.”

MainePERS misses 2026 fossil fuel divestment deadline by Peter McGuire, Maine Public

“Scott Budde, a financial analyst working with Maine Youth for Climate Justice said MainePERS is obfuscating the facts and shielding itself behind fiscal obligations to avoid taking steps to meet the divestment law… ‘We've found plenty of evidence to indicate that they could make substantial divestment moves and, if anything, their performance might actually be better and it certainly wouldn't be hurt,’ Budde said.

Meanwhile, Sean Mahoney, director of Conservation Law Foundation's Maine office said that the legal organization was pressing the state's attorney general to revise its legal opinion of MainePERS' obligations under the divestment law… ‘They are operating under the assumption that “trust us” is good enough,’ Mahoney said. ‘It's not. What the Legislature said is; we trust you to follow your fiduciary duties and we also think you can divest and continue to meet those fiduciary duties.’”

Activists rally in Augusta, urge MainePERS leaders to divest from investments tied to fossil fuels by Caroline LeCour, News Center Maine

“Activists say they've been meet with ‘dismissive action’ as they urge leaders at the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to divest assets from the fossil fuel industry by 2026. ‘We gave them five years, and it's now year three, and they have made no forward motion on it,’ Linda Woods said.”

Climate activists push Maine pension fund to divest from fossil fuels by Peter McGuire, Maine Public

“Campaign manager Hope Light said the agency has dragged its feet. Switching from oil, gas and coal will bring the same or better returns for Maine retirees, Light said, and would limit the system's risk as the public turns away from fossil fuels.”

Rally held in Augusta to protest fossil fuels by Keenan Mills, WABI5

“‘Divestment is not only a moral imperative.’ […] said Maine Youth Action Advocacy Director Anna Siegel. ‘But, it’s more than that. It’s an action that we must be taking to protect pensioners, folks whose retirement funds are invested in the fossil fuel industry, and as a result, they are losing money.’”

Activists and Maine Public Employee Retirement System at odds over fossil fuel divestment progress by Emma Davis, Maine Morning Star

“‘Inches said the issue boiled down to cost, risk and ‘what I call the moral question.’ Pointing to high storm damage and fuel costs as the effects of climate change worsen, Inches said ‘continuing to invest in fossil fuels is rooting for the future destruction of our planet.’”

Opinion: Get the ingredients right in state pension fund by Scott Budde, Portland Press Herald

“In a world with thousands of potential stock and investment fund options, MainePERS has many viable investment strategies that meet L.D. 99’s requirements and that are completely in-line with their fiduciary duty to beneficiaries.”

Opinion: MainePERS has the means to divest, but not the will by Don Witherill, Portland Press Herald

“Fiduciary responsibility is viewed by MainePERS as a green light to proceed as usual even though they have been given data showing alternative, fossil fuel-free investments are outperforming the fossil fuel returns in their public equity investments.  The problem it seems is that MainePERS relies on investment managers outside of Maine who make the investment decisions and that Maine’s fund is too small to dictate what these managers invest in, putting MainePERS in the position of being a follower.”

Activists say Maine public workers’ retirement system is failing to divest from fossil fuels by Kay Neufeld, Portland Press Herald

“‘I don’t really see how it could be within one’s fiduciary duty to not consider and act on the risk that fossil fuel investments have in the future,’ said Cassie Cain, a climate finance campaigner supporting Divest Maine. ‘It’s really important for pensioners and public employees for pension funds to be divesting and considering climate risk in their work.’”

Climate activists call for faster divestment from fossil fuels by Maine’s retirement system by Robbie Feinburg, Maine Public

“‘All kinds of enormous economic impacts, that will bubble around and cause enormous trouble impacting everything. And they're just not paying attention to any of that. It's not relevant to them,’ said Charles Spanger, with Third Act Maine, and pointed to a recent analysis showing that a fossil fuel-free portfolio would have outperformed MainePERS over the past decade.”

Climate activists call for MainePERS to divest from fossil fuels on Fox 22 Bangor

“He said their reason for holding Thursday's protest is to tell the Public Employee Retirement System board the time for divestment is now, ‘because there's a billion dollars in fossil fuel investments that should be removed […] because the fossil fuel industry needs to be stopped from destroying the world.’”

State pension fund criticized for failing to prioritize fossil fuel divestment despite 2021 law by Evan Popp, Maine Morning Star

“Proponents of the 2021 measure, however, argue that not fully divesting by 2026 would violate the intent of that law. ‘They have not heeded the spirit [of the law] and they seem actually quite defiant, which is upsetting to me,’ Molly Schen, a rally participant and member of Third Act Maine — a group of older climate activists — said of MainePERS. Others argued that divestment fits within MainePERS’ fiduciary duty because the renewable energy transition means fossil fuel investments are becoming increasingly likely to lose value.”

Letter: MPERS must divest from fossil fuels by Charles Spanger, Portland Press Herald

“Retirement accounts are long-term investments, and unabated climate change will crush their value. Investment boards are composed of economists whose projections about climate risk are absurdly optimistic. MPERS is out of touch.”

Despite 2021 law, advocates say Maine’s pension fund isn’t fully divesting from fossil fuels by Evan Popp, Maine Beacon

“However, proponents of the bill say divesting from fossil fuels is not only the right thing to do morally — given the well-documented connection between dirty energy sources and the escalating climate crisis — but would also be a prudent move financially because of the likely volatility of the industry as the world increasingly moves toward renewables.”